World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb
World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb -- Snow King
For most folks, even for those with plenty of experience astride a snowmobile, there is challenge and adventure aplenty in northwest Wyoming.
Simply touring Yellowstone National Park or tackling a few dozen of the hundreds of miles of the Continental Divide snowmobile trail are memorable challenges for the average snowmobiler. But for some even these opportunities appear pedestrian. For some, the World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb beckons.
Not impressed? You say you've climbed some pretty decent hills on your own snowmachine? Well consider this: the "hill" in the world championship hill climb is Snow King Mountain.
Snow King rises 1,500 vertical feet above the town of Jackson. The hill climb course follows a route that, near the summit, steepens to nearly a 45-degree angle. Hill climbers who lose it on the upper reaches of the course often tumble hundreds of feet back downhill.
It is not an event for the meek, as David Shepherd knows. Shepherd is one of the handful of drivers ever to make it to the summit. "It takes a lot of work to win, but guts mainly," Shepherd told a Jackson Hole Guide newspaper reporter once.
Guts and a good sled will take you over the top." Even spectators face challenges. Prime vantage points for viewing the race high on the course are on the same steep slopes that frustrate so many drivers. It is difficult simply to stand upright along some sections of the course.
For more information, contact the Jackson Hole Area Chamber of Commerce at (307) 733-3316.
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